The Chunin Exams participant stared at Choza's face, which was gradually blooming with a smile. Everyone felt an indescribable feeling in their hearts.
It seemed...
This fat man looked chubby and happy.
It was even more difficult to deal with than Nara Shikaku.
After all, if they had any questions to ask Shikaku, the other party would still be willing to answer them. However, this fat chief examiner completely ignored everyone's questions.
Aoba's gaze looked through the barbed wire at the side. If Choza had not mentioned it, he would have almost forgotten that this place was called the Forest of Death.
There were many forests like this in Konohagakure, all of which were enclosed and used as training grounds. However, the one who used this place the most was the Chunin Exams, and it almost became the designated place for the Chunin Exams' second round.
"The Forest of Death is filled with all kinds of uncertain factors. These uncertain factors make it so that people like you who participate may die at any time. Do you understand this meaning?"
Choza's voice sounded again. When he said the last part, he was inexplicably excited. He felt that this was what a ninja should be like. There was no comfort to speak of. Every day was dancing on the edge of shuriken and kunai. And might sacrifice his life for the mission.
After he said this.
The participant's expressions at the scene became serious, especially after they heard the word "die".
They were not people who lived in peacetime.
Now, the ninja world was currently at the Third Ninja World War. Things like dead people have penetrated their lives, and it was too common that it even became an everyday thing.
"I'm not joking with you anymore!"
Choza became extremely serious. From the moment he appeared in the eyes of everyone, he was a little fatty who looked harmless, but now he was the chief examiner who gave people a terrifying feeling. It could be said that he had transformed in a second.
"If you fail in the first round, you will only be eliminated; but if you fail in the second round, what awaits you will be death!"
When Choza said this, he immediately glanced around the crowd. He paused for a moment and then continued.
"If any of you regret it and don't want to take the second round, it's not too late to back down. Once you enter the Forest of Death, there is no way to abstain before the exam ends!"
As soon as Choza finished speaking, ninjas quickly ran over. One person would stop and stand by the fences every few meters, cordoning off this place.
As these ninjas stopped at their respective positions, the last person who looked like the captain ran toward Choza.
"Reporting to the chief examiner!"
"All of the ninja guards are in position!"
"There is a ninja guard every 10 meters around the entire Thirty-Eigth Training Ground!"
"The second round can start at any time!"
This ninja captain reported back to Choza. As his voice entered everyone's ears, everyone became even more nervous. After all, this scene looked more formal.
"Good!"
After hearing this person's report, Choza immediately nodded. After that, he reached into his ninja pouch and directly took out a stack of paper in front of everyone. There were strings of text written on it, but because they were relatively far away, they could not see what the words on the surface were.
All of a sudden.
The participants' gazes on the scene were focused on the papers Choza had taken out.
Everyone seemed to realize something faintly.
The things on the surface seemed closely related to the second round they were about to take!
"This is the consent form for the Chunin Exams second round!"
Choza spoke slowly under everyone's puzzled gazes; his expression looked extremely serious.
"Now, I will send these consent forms to you. You need to read the contents and sign it carefully!"
"If you don't agree with the content, then you chose to give up on Chunin Exams!"
"This is a very serious matter!"
"I hope that you can think carefully before signing!"
"After all..."
"Some of you may really die in the second round!"
After Choza said these words, his expression became extremely serious, directly driving the atmosphere and making the environment much more terrifying.
Swoosh~
Right at this moment.
A gust of cold wind blew past.
A few participants at the scene could not help but shiver.
This was no longer a simple matter. Ever since they came here, they had heard Choza talk about death more than once.
This portends a terrible thing!
That was...
People might really die in the second round of Chunin Exams!
After Choza said this, he sent the consent form in his hand to the participant present, one after another.
Only 30 copies of the consent form were prepared.
No more, no less.
Everyone had a copy in their hands.
All of a sudden.
The attention of every participant was focused on the consent form they had just received.
Aoba looked at the consent form.
The title of this consent form was very large, but the content was relatively simple and very direct.
***
CONSENT FORM
My name (****) agrees to take the second round of the Chunin Exam and promises that if any accidents occur during the exam, including death, it has nothing to do with the Chunin Exam, and they will not be held accountable!
***
When Aoba saw these words, he couldn't help but laugh.
The first thing that comes to my mind is the life and death situation in martial arts; that was, life and death were ruled by fate, riches and honor were in the sky, fists and feet have no eyes, that kind of sense of déjà vu.
This consent form not only needs to write your own name in the place where your name was.
It was also necessary to sign and press the fingerprint at the final place.
It could be said that it was done very well.
"This..."
"Death..."
"Will someone really die?"
"Hiss..."
"..."
After seeing the consent form in their hands, the originally heavy mood became even heavier.
At this time.
They had already realized.
The things that Chief Examiner Akimichi Choza had just emphasized.
It was not a casual remark.
It was true!
"I'll give you ten minutes to consider. You can decide whether you want to sign this consent form!"
Choza's voice rang out once more, clearly entering everyone's ears. This caused the originally tense mood to become even heavier. Almost everyone pricked their ears and carefully listened to Choza, afraid they would miss even a single detail.
"You all need to pay attention to a few points!"
"The first point!"
"This consent form must be filled out by you voluntarily!"
"No one can force others to fill it out!"
"All of you must only manage yourselves!"
"After signing this consent form, we will not be responsible for you no matter what you experience in the second round of the Chunin Exams!"
"So..."
"I hope you will follow your heart!"
"Think clearly before making a decision!"
"After making a decision, you can not regret it!"
"Do you understand?"
As Choza spoke, he raised a finger and waved it in front of everyone, indicating that he was referring to the first point.
The participants became even more silent.
Everyone's gaze was focused on the consent form in their hands. Looking at the simple and ordinary words, even they themselves could not tell what it meant to sign this consent form.
Was it possible to pass the Chunin Exams and become a chunin...
Or will they end up dying here in the Forest of Death?
No one immediately started writing.
No one signed it.
They all knew.
Akimichi Choza still had other things to say.
Everyone wanted to wait until everything was said before thinking about it. After all, the Chunin Exams was very important, but their life was more important. They had to make things clear first.
"The second point!"
At this time, Choza raised his second finger and gestured to everyone. Everyone's attention was once again focused on him.
"Only after all three in the team signed this consent form..."
"Only then can your team enter the second round of the Chunin Exams!"
"Otherwise..."
"As long as there is one who did sign this consent form."
"Then the entire team will be eliminated!"
"What is worth noting is..."
"This rule is not forcing everyone to sign the consent form, but to protect you who have signed the consent form but lack teammates!"
"Because..."
"To enter the second round in a situation where one teammate is missing..."
"It is no different from courting death!"
Choza said coldly. His words were exaggerated, but he felt this was not a big problem. He had to let these participants know what exactly happened.
After he said these words.
His gaze swept across the participants.
Seeing that no one spoke.
He immediately realized that these people would no longer say anything. They were all waiting for him to say something, so he simply raised his third finger.
"Third point!"
"Let's not talk about this first!"
"After you sign the consent form, you will know what's next. This involves the content of the second round!"
"Now I have finished what I have to say!"
"I'll give you ten minutes to think about it carefully. If you choose to continue to participate in the second round, then you can sign this consent form. But if you don't want to sign the consent form or intend to forfeit, this is your last time to think about it!"
"Think about it carefully!"
Choza said coldly. After he said this, the entire audience fell into silence. No one immediately agreed.
...
Saki and Rin also fell silent.
The two of them did not mind signing the consent form.
However, after hearing about this situation, they could no longer say anything to Aoba. After all, the words on the consent form were very clear. Unless they were desperate, everyone had to think about it and would not dare to agree easily.
"Aoba, we have already passed the first round. If not for you, we would not have been able to pass it. How about..." Saki looked at Aoba. She lowered her voice so only Aoba and Rin could hear her words. She pursed her lips, took a deep breath, and said, "Let's give up!"
"I think so too!" Rin looked at Saki deeply. She already understood what the latter meant, so she also responded. She knew that Saki did not want to give up on the Chunin Exams so easily, but they could not ask Aoba to do the same thing. Instead of waiting for Aoba to take the initiative to say it, it was better for them to say it first.
"What are you afraid of?"
Aoba said indifferently. How could he not understand the meaning of these two girls? He was not interested in the Chunin Exams, but it did not mean he wanted to end it this way.
"With the two of you protecting me, I am not afraid at all."
Aoba directly picked up the consent form, filled in his name in a blank space, signed it, and pressed his thumb beside it.
"I have signed the consent form!"
"If you two think you can protect me, then you can sign it!"
"I will hand my life to you!"
"That's it!"
Aoba smiled at Saki and Rin. After that, he handed the consent form to the receptionist in front of them.
Such a move.
It instantly attracted everyone's attention.
It could be said that...
Aoba was the first participant to sign and hand over the consent form.
This was equivalent to no turning back!
"This..."
Saki and Rin looked at each other. They could see the shock in each other's eyes. None of them had expected that things would actually be carried out in this way.
Aoba was the first to submit the consent form.
This action caused the two of them to be incomparably shocked.
The two of them didn't know what to say.
On the other side.
Choza took in everything that had happened here. He clearly saw that Saki and Rin had taken the initiative to give up in fear that Aoba would find it hard to say.
At that time.
He was still quite happy in his heart.
After all.
From the very beginning, they did not want Saki and Rin to pass these Chunin Exams!
The fact that Saki and Rin chose not to sign the consent form because of Aoba also made him feel that Aoba had played a role at this time.
However.
He did not expect it at all.
Aoba actually took the initiative to submit his consent form.
As a result.
It directly changed the situation here.
At the same time.
The way Choza looked at Aoba also changed. His view of Aoba had changed to a certain extent.
"Perhaps..."
"We have always misunderstood Aoba!"
"He looks fine!"
Choza muttered in his heart. At least this kind of trust in his teammates in the face of life and death was not something everyone could do.
When he was explaining the rules.
He specifically emphasized that they could not affect each other.
Everyone could only make decisions for themselves.
It was to subtly influence these participants and stimulate them to reveal their most selfish side when facing danger.
As long as someone did not dare to sign this consent form.
In that case, he was not qualified to become a Chunin, nor was he qualified to be a team captain that the other ninjas trusted.
No matter if it was a selfish person!
Or a person who was afraid of death!
They were not worthy to be a team captain!
At least at this moment.
Choza felt that Aoba was worthy of entering the Chunin Exams' second round. At this point, his opinion differed slightly from Shikaku and Inoichi.
"I am not afraid!" After hearing Aoba's words, Saki immediately became excited and said, "Aoba, you dare to believe us? We will definitely not let anything happen to you!"
"That's right!" Rin nodded.
After that.
The two of them wrote their name, signed it, and pressed their fingerprint into it.
Then, the two consent forms were handed over to the receptionist, and they became the first team to hand over their consent form.
"Let's hand it over too!"
When the other teams saw the actions of Aoba and the others, they also handed them over one after another. At this moment, these teams all regained their spirits.
"There's nothing to be afraid of!"
"We will die together!"
"Unless I die, no one can hurt my teammates!"
"Don't try to scare us with this consent form!"
"That's right!"
"..."
The participant at the scene were all encouraged by each other, each of them throwing the danger to the back of their heads, their entire bodies burning with hot blood.
Soon.
30 consent forms were handed over.
No one chose to withdraw.
This situation was within Choza's expectations. He knew it would be very difficult to eliminate these participants in such a manner. However, the process was still somewhat different from what he had expected. After all, the most prejudiced Aoba in his heart was the first to break the deadlock.
This was something he had not expected.
The rest of the things.
They were developing according to the plan.
"Good!"
Choza picked up the consent form that had already been signed. He knew this psychological warfare had already failed, so there was no need to waste any time. They could now proceed to the next step.
"I have 10 maps in my hands."
"Each team has one."
"Now, I will distribute these maps to you."
Choza took out 10 relatively sloppy maps and handed them to each team in turn. Among them, Aoba's team was received by Saki.
Immediately.
Saki spread out the map in her hand.
The entire map looked round, with forests and rivers drawn and tall towers marked in the middle area.
"Now, let me tell you the number three point that was not mentioned just now!"
Choza raised his third finger. He had just conducted a phycological test before the second round. Now, these participants have already passed the test. It could be said that everyone's heart was incomparably firm.
"The second round is a survival test."
"The Thirty-Eighth Training Ground is surrounded by 38 locked entrances."
"The distance between each entrance and the tower in the middle is about 10 kilometers."
"You have to complete the survival challenge in this limited space!"
"Here..."
"You can use weapons, ninjutsu, and other methods."
"There is only one final goal."
"That is..."
"These two scrolls from me!"
Choza raised his hands. He held a scroll in each of his hands. The scroll in his left hand had the word "Earth" written on it. The scroll in his right hand had the word "Heaven" written. It was the classic Earth and Heaven Scroll in Chunin Exams.
All the participants' gazes landed on the scroll in Choza's hand.
Apart from Aoba.
Everyone had a doubtful gaze in their eyes.
No one knew what was inside these two scrolls, nor did they know what use these two scrolls had. A lot of question marks appeared in their heads.
"Right now, there are 30 participants here who are going to enter the second round of the Chunin Exams!"
"10 teams in total."
"There are too many people."
"In the end, we hope only three to four teams can stay."
"So..."
"Each team will have this scroll with the word 'Earth' written in my left hand, which is the Scroll of Earth."
"Not only that."
"In this Thirty-Eighth Training Ground..."
"We also put in five scrolls with the word 'Heaven', which is the Scroll of Heaven."
When Choza said this, his voice suddenly stopped, making everyone here faintly realize the seriousness of the matter.
Under everyone's gaze, Choza raised his hand with four-finger raised and said.
"The fourth point I want to talk about next. "
"That is the last point."
"If you want to pass the second round..."
"Your team must take the Scroll of Heaven and the Scroll of Earth and reach the tower in the middle."
After Choza said this, the participants who were listening to the specific rules here widened their eyes, their eyes flickering with an incomparably shocked expression.
"'10 Scrolls of Earth and 5 Scrolls of Heaven. Doesn't this mean that if all the Scrolls of Heaven were found, five teams would be unable to pass?"
"The Chief Examiner has already said that in this round, he only hopes three to four teams to pass!"
"This is too difficult!"
"If we don't find the Scroll of Heaven, even more people will be eliminated!"
"This still hasn't calculated the possible battles between teams!"
"..."
Voices of discussion rang out. Everyone was discussing this competition system. Just the elimination rules of this uncertain quota were enough to increase the second-round difficulty.
At this moment.
Among the three Iwagakure ninjas.
The ninja named Akainu raised his right hand and slightly moved his hat. The corners of his mouth curled up into a cruel smile.
"I understand why we have to sign this consent form. As long as we kill all our competitors, we can slowly search for these scrolls for the rest of our time."
The moment Akainu said this.
Instantly, the participant's hair stood up.
All of them had a very nervous feeling, causing this round's difficulty to increase again.
After hearing Akainu's words, Choza frowned slightly. The rules were indeed like this, but these bloodthirsty words made his heart feel uncomfortable.
"Let me tell you a few things to take note of."
"First, there is a time limit for this exam. It is a total of 120 hours, which is 5 days. During this period of time, no matter whether you reach the tower or not, you must stay in the Thirty-Eighth Training Ground. No one can leave. If we are asked to check who has left here privately, then we will deal with it accordingly. Moreover, if you do not reach the tower in the stipulated time, even if you have the Scroll of Heaven and the Scroll of Earth in your hands, you will lose the qualification to proceed in the next round of the Chunin Exams!"
"Second, if any of you in your team lose his combat ability or are seriously injured, or if your team members are not in good condition, then your team will be eliminated whether you get the Scroll of Heaven and the Scroll of Earth or have arrived at the tower with it!"
"Third, before you arrive at the tower, no one is allowed to peek at the scroll's contents. No matter how many scrolls you have taken that time, if you open it outside the tower, your entire team will be eliminated!"
"The above three points."
"I made it very clear!"
Choza's tone became even more serious. His gaze swept across the people present. Like Shikaku, this was the first time he became a chief examiner. However, he had participated in Chunin Exams before and understood the dangers of the second round.
In fact.
From a certain perspective.
Chunin Exams' second round was the most dangerous one.
Because the first round was an intelligence-gathering test, there would be no danger at all. At most, they would be eliminated if they were a bit clumsy in obtaining intelligence, but there would not be any life danger.
As for the third round, it was an open one-on-one battle. Many ninjas in the field were watching the match. As long as it was considered that the victory or defeat has been decided, they would stop it. They would not expand the danger further. Relatively speaking, there would not be any danger.
As a whole...
The most dangerous round.
It was the second round of the Chunin Exams.
This was also the round where the most casualty in the past Chunin Exams!
"Understood!"
After the initial spiritual baptism, the ninjas at the scene no longer had so many psychological concerns. What they needed to do now was to enter the venue, and within the scope of the rules, they could get the Scroll of Heaven as much as possible and successfully enter the third round of Chunin Exams.
"Now, all of you have submitted the consent form. Next, each team will get a Scroll of Earth and choose a number. This number indicates the entrance to the venue. After getting the number, there will be people who will send you the corresponding entrance. During this period, you are not allowed to tell the number to anyone else!"
Choza looked at the crowd. This was his final explanation. After he said this, the 30 people in front of him were about to enter the venue of the Chunin Exams' second round. However, he did not know how many of these people would survive.
"Let's go get the number!"
Saki said in a low voice. As she spoke, her eyes fell on Aoba. After the first round and submitting the consent form, her impression of Aoba was constantly changing.
"Okay."
Aoba nodded and did not say much.
He had carefully listened to Choza's introduction of the second round rules. Like the first round, this round differed slightly from Naruto's.
According to his memories of Naruto.
During Chunin Exams, half held the Scroll of Heaven in their hands, and the other half held the Scroll of Earth. Therefore, they had to eliminate half of the people through snatching to pass the second round.
But...
The second round of Chunin Exams this time wasn't to snatch.
The types of scrolls that each team got were the same!
Even if two teams encounter each other.
That was just mutual elimination.
The purpose of the ten teams entering the venue was not to find other teams from the beginning but to find the Scroll of Heaven hidden in the forest because even if all the other teams were eliminated, they would not pass the round if they could not find the Scroll of Heaven.
On the other hand.
If they could find even more Scroll of Heaven.
Even if they could not defeat any of the teams here, they would still be eliminated.
Compared to the elimination round in Naruto, this second round of Chunin Exams was an out-and-out treasure hunting.
Aoba followed behind Saki and entered a tent. They took a scroll with the word "Earth" written on it. It was the Scroll of Earth for the second round of the Chunin Exams.
"Aoba, what number do we choose?" Saki immediately asked Aoba. Now, she planned to give this right to Aoba. It could be said that she was very respectful to Aoba.
"You can choose. Believe in your own judgment. After coming here, I will be the person you protect. I will listen to your command." Aoba waved his hand and said. He did not care which entrance they go. The second round would be his last round in this year's Chunin Exams. As for the third round, it was no longer a team competition, so it had nothing to do with him.
"Let me think..."
Saki immediately took out the Thirty-Eighth Training Ground map she had just obtained and looked at it carefully.
"There is a horizontal river here!"
"Where there is a river, there must be animals resting nearby!"
"When we first entered here, we should try our best to avoid colliding with animals!"
"So..."
"Let's choose entrance number 19!"
"Enter from the back!"
Saki immediately gave her judgment. After she finished speaking, she immediately looked at Aoba and Rin, as if asking for their approval.
"That's it." Aoba nodded directly.
"What Saki said is too reasonable!" Rin nodded.
"Then we will choose the No. 19 entrance." Saki nodded to the ninja who was waiting there. The ninja immediately took away the No. 19 entrance number plate from the pile of entrance number plates.
"Come with me." The ninja said indifferently.
"Wait!"
Saki immediately realized the problem here. She looked at the sign in the ninja's hand and narrowed her eyes. She asked, "You took away the No. 19 entrance number plate, so if the team behind wants to choose the No. 19 entrance, what will happen?"
"The team at the back can no longer choose the No. 19 entrance because you have already chosen it." The ninja replied.
"In this way, the team at the back can know which door we chose." Saki immediately noticed this blind spot.
"En..."
The ninja hesitated for a moment. He thought about it and realized that it was indeed a problem. After that, he said, "The next team can determine which number you took and which door you went to based on which number plates are missing. This is inevitable unless you don't choose now and wait until the end to choose. "
"It was fine."
Saki shook her head and said indifferently, "I just wanted to confirm whether it was like this. I didn't have any intention of avoiding them. We have already chosen No. 19. If anyone deliberately chose the position next to us, they would only be asking for trouble."
"That's right!"
Rin nodded. She was very confident in her own strength. She and Saki had been teammates for a long time. She had never participated in the Chunin Exams because she was not strong enough, but because Yamanaka Kaze, who was in the same group as her, had never agreed to participate in the Chunin Exams.
As for the two of them.
They had long thought that their strength was above Chunin.
"Then I will take you to the No. 19 entrance now."
The ninja nodded. As he spoke, he could not help but glance at Saki. He did not expect a girl to be able to say such words so confidently in this place. It was really rare.
"Alright!"
Saki replied and followed behind the ninja.
Aoba and Rin followed behind Saki.
The whole team left the tent together and walked toward the fence surrounded by barbed wire. Outside the fence, there were many ninjas guarding it, making the exam participant inside unable to come out. At the same time, the people outside could not enter.
Following Aoba's team that left the tent.
Iwagakure's team walked toward the tent, ready to pick out the entrance for them to enter.
...
Aoba and the other two followed the ninja and walked together toward the No. 19 entrance. They could only walk from the outside, so this was equivalent to going around a large circle. Relatively speaking, it was a physically exhausting project.
"Saki, we're going to be here for the next five days. Before entering the venue, they said they wouldn't allow us to bring food. They must have done it on purpose. What are we going to eat these five days?" Rin said with a helpless pout. Compared to the dangerous rules, she was more concerned about how to eat these five days. After all, they could not bring anything.
"If I'm not wrong, this should test our ability to survive in the wild, or maybe they want us to find a way ourselves." Saki analyzed.
"The problem of food is not difficult. In comparison, it is easy to solve." Aoba said lightly. However, the ninjas responsible for bringing them in were still here. It was not convenient for him to say too much about this. So he immediately changed the topic and said, "Where do you think the Scroll of Heaven is?"
"If I were the one who placed the Scroll of Heaven, I might place it at a certain entrance. Because every team would directly charge toward the tower the moment they entered the entrance, they would be further away from the Scroll of Heaven. However, the clues right before their eyes were missed just like that." Saki analyzed with a smile. She did not recognize this thing would really happen from her expression. She was completely treating it as a joke.
"It can't really be released like this, right?" After hearing Saki's words, Rin felt that it made a lot of sense. However, she also felt that such a thing was strange.
"Maybe it is really possible. After we enter the venue, let's check the area near the entrance. Maybe we can see the clues right in front of us."
The corners of Aoba's mouth curled up slightly. After he said this, his eyes fell on the ninja who led the way.
"Big brother, you must know where the Scroll of Heaven is, right?" Aoba immediately asked the ninja who led the way.
"I don't know." This ninja had no intention of continuing this topic.
"You don't have to tell us. Just tell us if you know about the scrolls. I'm especially curious about what kind of person hid those scrolls." Aoba said again. He stared at the ninja as if he wanted to see something from the latter's expression.
"I... I don't know." This ninja was slightly moved. He wanted to pretend, but it could be seen that he had already held on.
"Alright!"
Aoba helplessly spread out his hands. With this seemingly random movement, a piece of paper flew out of his hand.
This piece of paper slowly flew into this ninja's blind spot.
After that.
It landed directly on top of the ninja's head.
"Huh?"
The ninja felt something on top of his head and immediately touched it. However, at this moment, the piece of paper on his head had disappeared.